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For it is not death or pain that is to be feared, but the fear of pain or death.

οὐ γὰρ θάνατος ἢ πόνος φοβερόν, ἀλλὰ τὸ φοβεῖσθαι πόνον ἢ θάνατον.

Original text (Ancient Greek)

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Variants

For death or pain is not formidable, but the fear of pain or death. (Book II, ch. 1)

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For freedom is not acquired by satisfying yourself with what you desire, but by destroying your desire.

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It is difficulties that show what men are.

For what is it that everyone is seeking? To live securely, to be happy, to do everything as they wish to do, not to be hindered, not to be subject to compulsion.

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Epictetus (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.